My dodge has about 150k miles on it and it just started a problem.

Was driving and went to stop at a light, the vehicle died - when I started the vehicle again, it would not idle and I had to keep my foot on the gas in order to keep it running.

I pulled into a parking lot, let it sit for an hour thinking for some reason the truck flooded or just needed a break (I live in Arizona and it was 113 outside at the time).

I called a friend to give me a lift and he suggested that I take it to a mechanic he knew around the corner.

Since the truck would idle not in gear. I was able to move the vehicle by trying to dive an automatic like a manual.

About half way there, my truck started idling again while in gear and worked just fine. Left it for evaluation overnight and the shop could not find an issue.

Truck worked just fine - 2 weeks later - I'm driving for about 40 minutes and the engine cuts out. Same issue - won't idle, but this time it dies out while in neutral so the truck doesn't idle at all.

Money is tight and my room-mate was driving my truck for a while and since he's cheap, I thought he had been buying bad gass and it finally was killing my truck. Tossed in a cleaner for the fuel and ran the truck for about 15 minutes and the truck ran fine again.

Next day - the truck cuts out for about 15 minutes, I'm forced to keep it running.

I can run the truck for a bit and the truck will work fine after that.

Hoping that the truck is getting the crap out. I'm hoping that it will fix itself.

This morning I go to start the truck, it won't run and I'm forced to keep it running. I'm desperate so I drive it as is and about 10-15 minutes into the drive it starts idling again.

I need some serious help guys, I know my truck needs a tune up badly and some basic maint. but the money is tight and I just started a new job from being laid off for about a year. I can't spend the time to tear it down and my complex frowns on mechanic work on site.

During the 2-3 time when the truck was having issues with idling, I was able to get it to idle after 10 minutes, but it ran at very low rpm's and would bounce up and down from 200 rpm - 500 rpm for about 10 minutes till it cleared up.

This is basically the first fuel injected vehicle I have owned since all my other vehicles were carborated and I don't quite have the experience to tell if it's an injector issue, idle air control or a clogged fuel line.

About 2 years ago my fuel pump went out and had to replace the entire assembly so I doubt it's that.

What inexpensive checks and fixes should I look into in order to get my beloved truck back up and running?

 

Could the issue be the:

IAC or TPS?

 

Pull the throttle body (disconnect battery first) and remove the IAC valve from the back side. Clean the valve, (don't move the pintle) and THOROUGHLY clean out the IAC well. Put it back together, and test. (it will take it a couple minutes to re-learn the idle.) If it still stalls out at idle after a day or so, replace the TPS.

 

I thought the IAC was located on the front. I'm a big guy and it makes it hard to maneuver about at times.

Will I need to pull the air filter off the top to get to the back? I'm downloading the manuals now to see if I can figure out where is what.

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Thank you for responding. If anyone else has any other thoughts, please feel free to speak up.

 

Take the filter housing off first, yes. Take the throttle body right off the intake to clean it. (may wanna get the gasket first, it's only two bucks.)

IAC is on the back. MAP is on the front.

 

Thanks Hey, been a while since I had to work on a vehicle and most of my experience is with my 79 Jeep Cherokee - which is pretty straight forward.

All this new fangled stuff confuses me.. All I know is that if you try to exercise the demons out of the machine, don't - it doesn't help.

 

Hmm, not for the faint of heart.

Looking at the service manual and I'm not seeing the instructions on taking off the throttle body.

But from the picture I assume this.

Disconnect air hose from the left (looking into the engine compartment).
Disconnect the retaining ring on the air intake housing (hat), remove.

This should expose the throttle body housing.

Disconnect the wired, roughly about 3 sets and I think I have to disconnect the throttle cable.

Looking into the top, there is 4 or 5 bolts holding the body to the engine?

Unbolt these bolts, starting with the 4 exterior on the ring to see if this disconnects the assembly and the entire thing should come off like a carb.

unbolt the IAC from the back of the body, clean with carb cleaner/etc and clean out the chamber that it goes into.

Since I have the body off, replace the gasket and re-assemble.

Now, do I need to torque the bolts back down and if so, what pressure? 12?

Reassemble and see if the truck works, if it runs for a day and still does the same, replace the TPS?

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One big question, can you remove the IAC from the throttle body w/out removing the throttle body from the engine? Can it be cleaned effectively from that method?

And can you guess the time it will take from dissasembly to reassembly? I have limited time during the week due to work and whatnot.

 

You CAN do the cleaning on the engine.... but, keep in mind, all that crap you are spraying around, and cleaning out, has to go somewhere..... and of course, it's favorite location is.... into the intake... carb/brake cleaner will evaporate quickly, but, the rest of that crap is gonna get cycled thru the engine. You would really rather not do that. It's kinda tedious to take the TB off, but, you can do a much better job with it in your hands, than you can with it on top of the motor.

I just put mine in tight..... don't reef on 'em. So long as it seals, and stays tight, you are golden.

 

Gee, maybe this will help. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...n-the-iac.html

 

Thanks, I saw that post before I started posting on the site.


Just wanted to make sure what all I should check before I start tearing apart my only means of getting to work.

By looking at the pictures you can tell why I was confused on the placement of the IAC, since most vans allow you to access the back half of the engine unlike a truck that sits up like mine does - you have to basically be a circus performer to get up in there at times.